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Volcanology: Europe's ticking time bomb

Nature volume 473, pages 140–141 (2011)Cite this article

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Vesuvius is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world — but scientists and the civil authorities can't agree on how to prepare for a future eruption.

It starts with a blast so strong that a column of ash and stone rockets 40 kilometres up into the stratosphere. The debris then drops to Earth, pelting the surface with boiling hot fragments of pumice and covering the ground with a thick layer of ash. Roofs crumble and vehicles grind to a halt. Yet the worst is still to come. Soon, avalanches of molten ash, pumice and gas roar down the slopes of the volcano, pulverizing buildings and burying everything in their path. Almost overnight, a packed metropolis becomes a volcanic wasteland.

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Authors
  1. Katherine Barnes
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Katherine Barnes is a freelance writer in London.

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Italy's Department of Civil Protection

The Vesuvius Observatory

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Barnes, K. Volcanology: Europe's ticking time bomb. Nature 473, 140–141 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/473140a

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